I have a 15 year old son so mad about rugby it is hard to explain. He thinks about it all the time, plays it at every given opportunity, is out with his oval ball kicking and throwing on his own late into the day and when the weather drives him inside he watches it on the telly. Current matches, old matches absorbing everything and even reading Johnny Wilkinsons autobiography – and this from a boy that is unlikely to pick up a book unless I glue it to his hands. So here is the situation.
Teenwolf was born in November which means come the academic year although still only 15 he will be deemed too old to play in the under 16 rugby squad. The alternative? The under 18’s. Now the under 18’s have a vast array of players there but let’s be honest a lot of them are essentially grown men. Big, hairy and developed and when I say BIG we are talking about man mountains here. So as a parent I have been asked, by teenwolf, to sign a consent form that he can be considered to play for the under 18s. Now if I had given birth to Conan the Barbarian I wouldn’t hesitate but Louis is growing now. He is 5′ 9″ has just hit 11 stone and he would be mashed into an unrecognisable pulp were he faced with some of these brick outhouse built guys. So what do I do? My instinct is say no. The anticipation of whch has already plunged him into despair and cast a cloud of doom over our home. If I can’t play rugby for a year and a half he says I don’t know what I’ll do.
Neither do I.
But having worked with Hearts & Balls – the rugby charity for chronically injured players and Spinal Injuries Scotland my belief is there is no rush. Wait. If you were to get injured now then your future will be changed forever. You will be big and strong enough to take on the might of the scary big players soon just not yet and the price you may pay is higher than you will ever know.
Now you can see why he wants to strangle me.
FYI below link to The Scotsmans, Tom Evans story
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Spine-injury-forces-Tom-Evans.6393708.jp
